Moscow Presses for Legalization of ‘Blood’ Diamonds to Benefit Its Own Companies

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 8 – Horrified by the way in which sales of diamonds from some Central African countries have been used to fund regimes and movements that routinely violate the human rights of people there, the international community has sought to prevent the sale of what many call “blood diamonds.”

            Other producers, like Canada, have gone so far as to imprint micro-labels on their stones and to market their diamonds as something people can buy without contributing to violence and human rights abuses.  But the Russian government, seeing an opportunity for its own profit, is now pressing for an end to the demonization of diamonds from the Central African Republic.

            Beginning last year, Moscow indicated that it hoped to lift the restrictions on CAR diamonds for “humanitarian” reasons, Lyubov Glazunova of the Riddle portal says; but now, in the year of its chairmanship of the Kimberly Process, it has a better chance to achieve its goals which are in fact all about profit (ridl.io/ru/rossija-smyvaet-krov-s-afrikanskih-almazov/).

            That is because, she continues, “when and if the legalization of exports from the CAR is achieved, Russian companies will be first in line” to exploit the natural wealth of that country. Money from these “blood diamonds” may no longer go into the hands of African warlords, but it will fill the coffers of Moscow.

            The Kimberly Process was established in 2000 to prevent the export of blood diamonds from Africa. The group, which has 82 states as members, banned the sale of all diamonds from the CAR; but there have been reports that Russia has helped that country in the past to end run these restrictions (nytimes.com/2019/09/30/world/russia-diamonds-africa-prigozhin.html).

            Now, the Russian side wants to do away with them entirely arguing that the election of a new president in CAR makes that possible. But in fact, the central government controls little more than the capital; and most of the diamonds mined in that country are in areas controlled by armed rebels, many of which have close ties to Russian “private military companies” led by Putin’s “chef,” Yevgeny Prigozhin.

            Negotiations between the rebels and the central government are proceeding, and the latter sees lifting the restrictions on the sale of diamonds as a necessary step both to provide the central government with funds to support itself and its use of Russian support and to give the opposition an incentive to come to an agreement.

            Andrey Kemarsky, head of the Africa Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, says that lifting the restrictions is also needed to give the powers in the CAR the capacity to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Without such earnings, he argues, there will inevitably be a humanitarian disaster.

            Glazunova says that no one has made clear how the weak government of the CAR can effectively police the sale of diamonds, but it is clear that Moscow is going to press ahead at two meetings of the Kimberly Process this year. Both were supposed to take place on Russian territory, but the pandemic means they will likely be online.

            Russia’s position is currently supported by India, China, the United Arab Emirates and 13 African countries; but if Moscow wins on this, it will be the major beneficiary, both financially and politically, because it will not only gain access to the profits from the sale of blood diamonds but be able to strengthen its position in central Africa and project power more broadly there.